Mountaingrrl00

This is my kind of perfumey scent. It goes on strong, with a very heady opium and blast of clove that's like a traditional spicy-gourmand perfume. It has a lot of throw initially Even with the strength of the beginning it comes across as complex. The orris reveals itself next, dry and delicate and still sweetened by the clove. It dries down soft and musky and has tremendous staying power, but ends up closer to the skin. For me it's an evening, winter kind of scent, wonderful for being dressed-up and festive.

Sentimental Initiation is strong on the clove and not too sweet.

How about Morocco? It's resiny and creamy but not too heavy, and it doesn't smell at all like medicine.

I got Orata's sniffie, and I really like it. It's clean musky grapefruit and, yes, grapefruit peel, at first. The drydown reminds me of Jacob's Ladder although they don't share a single listed note.

I'm someone who can't wear rosewood, and I seem to bump into it quite a bit! BPAL-wise, the strongest rosewood note I've encountered was in Kostnice, a GC scent that was discontinued. It's also in Seance, Libertine, Endymion, Dee and Ave Maria Gratia Plena.

I love spicy scents. I don't usually like sassafras, and BPAL's sugar scents often don't agree with me, but somehow this all works on my skin. It's like wearable spice bread without any of my butter/pastry notes of doom. I can't really pick out the plum at all, but it's yummy just the same.

Sometimes you just can't go by the written descriptions. I never would have considered buying this or even getting a sniffy. Except for the leather, there's not a note in Dwarf that would have appealed to me. And soot-covered? Ick! Or so I assumed, until I actually sniffed this and fell in love. (Thank goodness for Meet & Sniffs.)

In the vial: rich, tangy and somehow familiar. It reminds me of the barn and tool shed behind the house I grew up in. And of summer air after a good rain -- but for once it doesn't give me an ozone headache. I guess it's the "chips of stone" I'm smelling. The leather is like the kind in Kroenen, very butch. The tang is prominent.

On wet: There's something so charged and alive about it. And also nuzzly, now that the leather scent has gotten softer.

Dry on skin: a very appealing shiny-smooth metallic note, and something deliciously earthy. I get an after-the-rain association again, but this time there's earth and plants involved.

This is so sexy it might get me into RPG.

The Vampire Bride goes through a blood phase on me.

The black soil element attracted me to this one. It's rich and true, and really prominent at first sniff in the vial. Wet on skin, I get tart pomegranate too. The Lab's pomegranate has been hit-or-miss with me, sometimes going too candyish or fizzy, but here it's naturally tart and tannic, blending nicely with the soil. There's a light herbal-honeylike note on drydown, which I take to be the asphodel and wonder-flowers. The scent doesn't last long on me, but I sure enjoy it while it does.

Araw Ng Mga Patay has a lovely true banana/banana-leaf note that lasts pretty well.

This smells amazing - it has not just the sweetness but the musky and floral qualities of real honey. The strength and throw aren't excessive, and it didn't clash with my perfumes.

The gloss itself didn't work as well as I'd hoped on my long, coarse, curly hair -- it felt silky going on, but left my hair feeling dry later in the day. I'll find a better home for it and stick with coconut oil and Mead Moon!

Busting out the Calaveras here.

I can't stop huffing my wrist. This is so mysterious and compelling.

In the vial: Soft and grey and otherworldly. I get the aquatic vibe, except I don't have the words for it. It's a rain/mist/fog kind of aquatic, not the marine/waterlily/citrus kind I'm used to at all.

Wet on wrist: Sharper, greener. Moss and violet leaf.

Dry: Soft slightly sweet wet violets, soft greenery and deep secret resins.

This is mostly strong cinnamon and nutmeg on me, and that phase lasts a long time. I do get more sweet pumpkin and just a hint of coffee as it dries down. It's a warm, simple comfort scent I imagine will be a nice pick-me-up on certain winter days.

Smells like a walk through a tropical nursery -- banana leaves, then creamy, waxy flowers, then a ripe, burnt-sugar scent, followed by the scent of dry autumn leaves outdoors. Very pretty and unusual.

Edited to add: dries down to a warm and sweet vanilla-caramel scent. Stays close to the skin.

Is there anything with violet and anise?

The plum in Snooty Rose is marvelous. Rich and aromatic but still bright from the bergamot.

Romanti.Goth is my favorite dark plum scent -- not so available, though.

For a leafy fig tree scent, try Strangler Fig. If you like it mellower and warmer, try Intrigue.

Biwa is my favorite not-too-sweet black currant BPAL.

Hey guys! I'm looking for two different types of sorta fruit blends.

 

1. Fig/fig leaves. My awful neighbors have this splendid, huge fig tree and every time I go out on the deck I smell the leaves mostly, but later in the year I can smell the fruit too. Is there any BPAL that has a mix of fig and fig leaf? Or anything that might come close to replicating the scent of figs/leaves/warmth? This sounds like a really good non-spicy fall scent to me.

 

2. Black currant without too much sweetness. I adore the currant notes in Eat Me, but I want something that tones down the sweetness. Maybe currants (esp black) with some kind of green note, or a smoky note? I know that there are a lot of BPALs that have black currant as a note, but after reading so many scent descriptions and reviews my head is about to explode.

 

I'm sorry if these questions are very redundant. Thanks!

Try this thread: http://www.bpal.org/topic/15581-best-iris-scent/

The Unsteady Governess is doing nicely in the hot weather.

In the vial I get ozone and metal. On my skin, it warms up to a soft, green resin scent. It actually reminds me a lot of Midnight Mass, but a bit lighter.

I'm a violet lover, and this is such a beautiful setting for violet - smoky, earthy, a little juicy, with just a subtle hint of ylang ylang. One of my favorites.

I got this when it came out about nine months ago, but never wore it beyond the initial skin-test. In the long, cold autumn and winter the ozone and burnt smells just didn't work. I'm glad I hung onto it now, though, because it's glorious in the heat. It blooms on my skin and evokes the dry air and western herbs and grasses I grew up with, and the burning smell is really subdued now, like incense without the smoke. It's herbal-resiny, slightly sweet, natural-smelling, unisex. It's going to be very wearable for summer.

This isn't something I thought I'd like, and I almost passed it on after the initial sharp, piney sniff of it in the vial. I'm glad I tested it, though, because once it hits my skin it blooms into a balsam needle smell with just a hint of the tree bark. It reminds me of one of my favorite LEs, Midnight Mass, but younger and greener.

Reminds me of Givenchy Pi, which I love. It's fresh and almost cologney but with a lovely almost vanilla warmth to it.